Castelvolturno- Italia- September 10th 2011 – Friends and family are mourning the death of a young man died from a crisis of liver cirrhosis. Alcoholism is widespread due to the condition of marginality in which migrants live. The man died in particular for a big delay of the ambulance and and a lack of health assistance.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Bari, Italy – December 19th, 2012 – Muslim believer prays in a corridor of the detention and expulsion center of Bari Palese. The centers for identification and expulsion of illegal immigrants (CIE) are a tools used throughout Europe following the adoption of a common migration policy of the states of the European Union enshrined in the Schengen Agreement of 1995.
The CIE are not legally prisons, but places of administrative detention, used not for what the people “have done”, because these people are not accused of some crimes, but because they lack of a residence permit.
In these detention centers can be found victims of human trafficking, asylum seekers, “economical migrants”, who after losing their job, did not get permission to stay and have been arrested because have become irregular.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Harmanli, Bulgaria – October 10th 2014 – Asylum seekers in the refugee center managed by the government. Since 2013 the number of the refugees entered in the country is raised, but Bulgaria is only a transit point for these people, that in great part want to reach northern european countries. Many refugees wait to receive the passport of 3 or 5 years as asylum seeker, but in the first case, this kind of document doesn’t allow the person to leave the country.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Calais, France – November 3th 2015 -Tents in the camp set near Calais, northern France. Thousands of migrants have been scaling fences near the Channel Tunnel linking the two countries and boarding freight trains or trucks destined for Britain.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Torvanik, Croatia – September 18th 2015 – Syrian refugees wait the train that will transport them to Slovenia and later to Germany; in the eastern-Croatia town of Tovarnik, close to the border between Croatia and Serbia. The Refugees have begun to travel via Croatia, after that Hungary, fenced off its own border with Serbia, preventing the fluxes of refugees to pass on the Hungarian soil.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Idomeni, Greece- December 3rd 2015 – Around 5 000 refugees wait for hours to cross the border between Greece and Macedonia. Few days ago, Macedonia built a big fence to control the flow of refugees. Only people from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq are consider as refugees who are allowed to cross for small group. In the picture some Iranians try to block the enter of the border complaining the decision to let pass only the people that come from countries in war.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Sid, Serbia – September 17th 2015 – Refugees walk along the Serbian border with Croatia to reach the croatian town of Tovarnik, collecting point for the great part of the refugees pushed back by the Hungarian government. From the town of Towarnik the refugees are transported by bus and trains to HUngary and Slovenia.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Idomeni, Greece- December 3rd 2015 – Migrants and refugees wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border.
Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan nationals who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Over 1,500 people, mostly Indians, Moroccans, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, are stuck on the border.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Kos, Greece – August 20th 2015 – Refugees from Pakistan just landed on the beach of the island, after the cross of the sea between the greek island and the turkish town of Bodrum. The Greek island of Kos, located five kilometres from Turkey, has seen a large influx of migrants. Kos has no migrant reception area, meaning that migrants take up residence on the promenade along the seafront.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Mediterranean sea – June 6th 2015 – 120 miles from the italian coast, refugees coming from Libya on board of a dinghy, the image is taken from a ship of italian Financial Police during in a joint operation with Italian coast guard And Italian navy, that rescud on the sea more than 1000 people.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Mediterranean sea – April 2nd 2011 -More than 100 migrants and refugees aboard of a vessel coming from the Tunisian port of Zarziz,cross the strait of Sicily in the direction of Lampedusa. Estimates of IOM argue that since 1988 over 9000 people have died trying to cross the Strait of Sicily. Making the channel of Sicily one of the most dangerous crossings for people trying to reach Europe.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Lampedusa, Italy – June 6th 2015 – Immigrants disembarked and covered with termal sheet, after been rescued at 120 miles from the italian coast with other 100 persons by a joint operation of Italian Guardia di Finanza, Italian coast guard And Italian and Irish navy. At the end of the operation were rescued more than 3000 persons attempting to cross the Strait of Sicily.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Ras Jedir, Tunisia – March 15th 2011- Panoramic view of the Choucha refugee camp, built by the UNHCR during the civil war, in this period more than 600,000 people have fled the country; creating one of the biggest exoduses in the recent years at the border of Europe. These men and women, were foreign workers in Libya, forced to leave their jobs and their homes destroyed by the war, losing everything. The border of Ras Jedir has quickly turned into a refugee camp in the open air (probably the biggest at the European borders); this like many others nowadays, was one of the starting points for many refugees that head towards Europe, an example of an humanitarian crisis at the gates of the old continent (The camp was closed only at the end of 2013).
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Ras Jedir, Tunisia – March 15th 2011-Refugees fled by the civil war in Libya, just arrived at the Choucha refugee camp, built by the UNHCR during the civil war, in this period more than 600,000 people have fled the country; creating one of the biggest exoduses in the recent years at the border of Europe. These men and women, were foreign workers in Libya, forced to leave their jobs and their homes destroyed by the war, losing everything. The border of Ras Jedir has quickly turned into a refugee camp in the open air (probably the biggest at the European borders); this like many others nowadays, was one of the starting points for many refugees that head towards Europe, an example of an humanitarian crisis at the gates of the old continent (The camp was closed only at the end of 2013).
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Melilla, Spain – August 13th 2014 – More than 100 sub saharian Refugees try to cross the 12 km fence between Spain and Morocco built by Europe to block the illegal immigration. Over the past two years the attacks on the fence by hundreds of African migrants have increased exponentially. Europe has increased the border controls in this part of the continent, entrusting to the Guardia Civil the task of making impenetrable the Moroccan-­‐Spanish border; this condition means that the illegal deportations in Morocco of migrants and refugees who have jumped over the fence, are on the agenda of the Spanish Police. In this state of violence and denial of rights, is necessary to add the brutalities carried out by Moroccan security forces, that with the tacit approval of Europe make every kind of wickedness against the african refugees.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Tripoli, Libya – May 26th 2014 – Twaisha prison for illegal migrants. In the picture eritrean and sudanese refugees sit in an area of the prison.Every month in the jail arrive more than 150 migrants from sub sharian Africa. The prison was built with the economical support of the italian government. In these prisons lack the basic health care for the inmates, in each room of the prison there are more than 60 persons. The persons jailed don’t know exactly how many time they will pass in jail and if they will be deported out from Libya. The conditions of living of the jail are terrible, and the inmates denounce the continous violence by the guards.
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

Sahara desert, Libya-Egypt-Sudan border May 18th 2014- Refugees coming from Sudan, arrived in Libya crossing the desert of Sahara after many days of trip on board of 3 pick ups. in the picture, the refugees try to reach one of the vehicles that reprises the travel after one day of stop due a malfunction of the engine. In the area there aren’t no NGO’s or humanitarian groups that could help the refugees that almost everyday arrive from the desert, often injured or precarious health conditions.
The 3 cars of refugees were intercepted by a local militia that was patrolling the border. Estimates say that since the 90’s in this part of the Sahara, are died more than 2000 refugees (IOM, Fortress Europe).
Ph.Giulio Piscitelli

At 18 km from the border with Bangladesh, India has built the great Farakka dam that diverts most of the waters of the Ganges to Calcutta.
As a result of this work, during the dry season the river flow in Bangladesh fell by 70%.
The Ganges in recent years has begun to change the course of the river in the vicinity of the dam. Here you can see a strip of land in the middle of the river came out just two years ago India 2013.

an outdoor makshift laundry for hotels along the Yamuna river, feb 2014

In Chapi Nawabgang city, Bangladesh, every monsoon the floods got so bad , a bridge was built to help the community, the opposite extream now happens in the dry season. The waters are shallow enough for people to walk across.

A fisherman in the icy winter breeze gets ready to go out fishing in the Sunderbans.

A worker with a water hose tries to tame an iceberg of foam form Chimical Waste dumped by factories along the Yamuna river.

Toxic fumes from a tannery pollut the early morning air along the Ganges.

Resting on a tuk tuk

a woman fishing in front of an oil refinery along the Ganges in the sunderbans

An oil spill in the Sunderbans marks the vegetation on the banks. The effects of human disasters like this last for many years and effect the entire ecosystem.

Hindu devotees bathe in the Ganges during the Kumbh Mela, India 2013.

Hindu devotees bathe in the Ganges during the Kumbh Mela, India 2013.

woman poses for a picture at the point of entrance to the Sunderbans in bangladesh, April 2014

two engineers coming ashore after inspecting the boats. The waters in the harbor have completely died out due to heavy pollution and toxins.

Horse used to transport the devotees along the banks of the Ganges River, India 2008

Hindu devotees along the banks of the river Ganges getting ready to bath in the water of the sacred river.

Icebergs of foam form Chimical Waste dumped by factories along the Yamuna river.

Brick factory workers try to sheild themselves from dust particles in the heavy morning breeze on the way to work. Waste from industrial processes coming from factories along the river cause huge amounts of pollution in the air.

Hindu devotees bathe in the Ganges during the Kumbh Mela, which is celebrated every three years and rotates among four Indian cities. It takes place at the confluence of the three sacred rivers – Ganges, Yamuna and the invisible Sarasnati. Millions of Hindu devotees take the ritual bath in the holy river; an act they believe washes away sins. The Holy waters of the Ganges is at the heart of Indian spirituality, the drying up of these waters threatens the future of religious festivals that have been going on for centuries.
The Himalayan glaciers are already melting at a very rapid speed, the Gangotri glacier which makes up a huge amount of the water of the Ganges is disappearing at an alarmingly fast rate every year, nearly twice the speed compared to two decades ago. These waters sustain over 500 million people and the economic implications of climate change along the river will be felt deeply.

Hindu devotees bathe in the Ganges during the Kumbh Mela.
Kumbha Mela is celebrated every three years and rotates among four Indian cities, it takes place at the confluence of the three sacred rivers (Ganges, Yamuna and the invisible Sarasnati). Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees take the ritual bath in India’s holy Ganges river, they believe it washes away sins.

A homeless boy fishes for coins using a string and a magnet along the Yamuna river in Delhi, the main tributary of the Ganges

every year, during the dry season, the Ganges waters on the Bangladesh Border drys up due to the farakka Dam beeing closed on the Indian border, March 2014

INDIA, GANGOTRY JUNE 2015;
Gangotri Glacier (S is located in Uttarkashi District, Uttarakhand, India in a region bordering China. This glacier, one of the primary sources of the Ganges, is one of the largest in the Himalayas with an estimated volume of over 27 cubic kilometers.
The terminus of the Gangotri Glacier is said to resemble a cow’s mouth, and the place is called Gomukh or Gaumukh.
Gomukh, Is the precise source of the Bhagirathi river, an important tributary of the Ganges. Gomukh is situated near the base of Shivling; in between lies the Tapovan meadow.
The Gangotri glacier is a traditional Hindu pilgrimage site. Devout Hindus consider bathing in the icy waters near Gangotri town to be a holy ritual, and many made the trek to Gomukh, with a few continuing on to Tapovan.

Still life of the instruments that are commonly used by the Pokot people in the practice of FGM in West Pokot County. Kongelai, Kenya, 2015.
Still life degli strumenti usati dalla popolazione Pokot nella pratica delle MGF nella contea di West Pokot. Kongelai, Kenya, 2015.

One of the Waredube villages in the Seru district. The Waredube people are a Muslim community of about 5,000 people from Somali origin. They live in small rural villages along the Wabe river, in a total isolation. Odadima, Ethiopia, 2015.
Uno dei villaggi Waredube nel distretto di Seru. I Waredube sono una comunità musulmana di origine somala di circa cinquemila persone, che vivono in piccoli villaggi rurali nei pressi del fiume Wabe, in totale isolamento. Odadima, Etiopia, 2015.

Nimo Oufet, 12, having a swim in the Wabe river. Nimo is one of the girls in the community who were rescued from FGM thanks to the work of the local Women’s Network. “I feel different from the other girls of the community who have been circumcised,” she says, “I feel better than them.” Odadima, Ethiopia, 2015.
Nimo Oufet, 12 anni, si bagna nelle acque del fiume Wabe. Nimo è una delle ragazze della comunità salvate dalle MGF grazie al lavoro della Rete delle donne locale. “Mi sento diversa dalle altre ragazze della comunità che sono state circoncise”, dice, “mi sento migliore”. Odadima, Etiopia, 2015.

A female high school in Hargeisa. School drop-outs are strictly linked to FGM practices.
After undergoing circumcision, a girl is considered to be ready to become a bride and usually has to leave school in order to be married off by the family. Hargeisa, Somaliland, 2015.
Una scuola superiore femminile ad Hargeisa. L’abbandono scolastico è strettamente legato alla pratica delle MGF. Dopo il “taglio”, infatti, le ragazze sono considerate pronte per diventare spose e solitamente sono costrette a lasciare la scuola per essere date in matrimonio dalla famiglia. Hargeisa, Somaliland, 2015.

A teen girl in labor at the Edna Adan University Hospital in Hargeisa. FGM leads to prolonged labor and is one of the main causes of the extremely high rate of child and maternal mortality in Somaliland. 2015.
Un’adolescente in travaglio all’ospedale universitario Edna Adan ad Hargeisa. Le MGF provocano un travaglio prolungato e rappresentano una delle prime cause di mortalità materno-infantile in Somaliland. 2015.